


But We're Better Together

by purpleeyesandbowties



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Before the war against Homeworld, F/F, Pre-Series, Rose is a matchmaker lol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-27
Updated: 2015-03-27
Packaged: 2018-03-19 20:06:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3622563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/purpleeyesandbowties/pseuds/purpleeyesandbowties
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All her life, Ruby was told she was too small and too weak. The odd gem out, she never felt like she fit in anywhere.</p>
<p>All her life, Sapphire felt as if a part of her was missing, like a book missing a vital chapter. She  withdrew from the gems around her, resigning herself to a life alone.</p>
<p>They join Rose's Army, and everything changes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	But We're Better Together

**Author's Note:**

> So this is mostly a lovechild of about a dozen odd headcanons of mine. Lemme know if something doesn't make sense and I'll try to fix it/elaborate. Unbeta'd, sorry. All mistakes are my own.

All her life, Ruby was told she was too small and too weak. The odd gem out, she never felt like she fit in anywhere. She couldn't summon her weapon easily. She didn't cooperate with others. The constant rejection of her peers made her quick temper hotter and the chip on her shoulder sharper. She had no family and few friends. No gem would let her join their team. That all changed when she met Rose.

All her life, Sapphire felt as if a part of her was missing, like a book missing a vital chapter. As a gem, she was rather underwhelming--short and slight, with a perfectly common gemstone. The only thing that stood out about her was her future vision, as choppy and unrefined as it was. She joined several teams of gems over the years but was quickly left behind as they went off on missions that she would be no use on without a weapon. After her fourth team took off without her, she withdrew from the gems around her and resigned herself to a lonely life. Until the day she fell into the company of Rose Quartz.

Rose's Army took almost anyone who volunteered. Rose Quartz was well-known for her compassion and acceptance of all kinds of gems. Still, when Ruby entered Rose's control room, she was uncertain.

Rose Quartz was as beautiful as everyone always said she was, smiled kindly at the new arrival. Her smile filled up the room and Ruby stared at her for a moment, starstruck. She blurted out, "I want to join!"

"Alright," Rose said easily. "Will you swear to defend the planet Earth from the harm other gems would cause it?"

"I--um," Ruby shuffled her feet. "Sure? I didn't actually think you'd let me join? I've never gotten this far, to be honest. Most gems turn me away at the door."

Rose Quartz laughed quietly. "Ruby," she said, shaking her head fondly.

Ruby looked up in surprise--how did she know her name?

"Ruby, I've had my eye on you for a while. If you hadn't come to me of your own accord soon, I was going to recruit you myself."

"But--why? I'm a weakling! I haven't fought in a formal battle, ever!"

Rose smiled again. "There is strength in you. Sometimes it isn't takes the right circumstances to bring it to light. That is why I'm asking you to join my personal team."

"I--your what? Personal team! You can't be serious!"

Rose's smile grew wider. "I'm hardly what you call a serious gem, Ruby. But in this instance, I am being quite serious indeed."

Ruby's eyes filled with tears. She had hoped beyond hope that Rose would let her join, but that was all. To be offered a spot on her personal team was a miracle in itself.

Ruby hugged Rose, her comically tiny arms wrapping as much of the larger gem's middle as she could. Rose picked her up and hugged her like she was a child. For once, Ruby didn't mind being so small.

 

Sapphire joined the Crystal Gems quite by accident. When she was accepted into Rose Quartz's army, she was given a desk job organizing schedules and new recruit lists. That didn't really surprise her--very few gems thought her to be a fighter at first glance. But all gems in the army had to attend training days. The first training day she attended was centered on weapons. As a gem unable to draw her weapon, Sapphire was ignored by the polite and scoffed at by the not-quite-so. At the end, gems rounded up to do some sparring. Rumor was that Rose Quartz herself was going to pick another gem to join her elite team, the Crystal Gems.

Gem after gem pulled out their weapons and showed off their skills. When most gems had gone one round, Sapphire stepped into the ring. Chuckles and whispers came from the spectators, but they were easily ignored. Her opponent, a tall, wiry gem nodded at her uncertainly. "Pearl," she said, drawing her spear.

"Sapphire," Sapphire answered, curtsying. She closed her eyes, concentrating. Fortunately, she had watched Pearl train and observed her fighting style. That, coupled with her future vision, might be enough to help her through this match.

Pearl leveled her spear and charged in Sapphire's mind's eye. She opened her real eyes in time to see Pearl begin to level her spear. Sapphire saw her moves a second before they came and reacted accordingly. Pearl favored a nearly-choreographed dancing style of attack which was easy enough to decipher on its own.

Sapphire was fast. She side-stepped and backtracked and zipped around her opponent easily. Here and there she threw a punch or a kick or an elbow in Pearl's ribs, but her main objective was to disarm.

It only took five minutes before Pearl's spear clattered the the ground. Sapphire snatched it up and held it point-blank against Pearl's chest. There was a long moment of silence. Sapphire lowered the spear and offered it, hilt first, to Pearl, who was slowly standing up.

"Thank you," Sapphire said.

"Thank--why?"

Sapphire shrugged. "For a good match. And for not going easy on me. It was fun."

Someone new stepped into the sparring ring. Pearl, who had been about to answer, fell quiet, a blush creeping across her face. Rose Quartz stood before Sapphire.

"What section are you in, little gem?"

"Secretary. I'm new, last week."

"You're getting a promotion. Welcome to the Crystal Gems."

~~~

Ruby felt drawn to Sapphire. She was kind and quiet, but also resourceful and determined. Around Sapphire, Ruby felt her edges soften and her temper cool down. They had become unshakeable friends, and under the motherly love of Rose Quartz, they blossomed. Stronger, faster, quicker thinkers, thanks to the training and care they received. As part of her personal team, they did double the work of regular recruits, but neither one complained. Somehow they always ended up doing the most boring and tedious of tasks together.

No one could deny they worked well together. They used their size to their advantage and worked off the other. Ruby felt the immediate friendly affection she had for Sapphire quickly turn into something deeper, but she was so happy to have Sapphire as a friend that she ignored it the best she could.

Sapphire had the night patrol. As she often did, Ruby walked with her to keep her company. They passed this night as most--talking about nothing in particular, enjoying each other's presence. And if they walked a bit too close together, hands brushing every few paces, well. There was no one else around to care.

Several hours before dawn, Sapphire stopped mid-sentence, breath hitching. By this point, Ruby knew her well enough to tell she was having a vision. They were hard to control, these snatches of possible future memories, and often didn't make sense. Ruby wrapped her arm around Sapphire to support her and let her work through it. "What did you see?" she prompted, once Sapphire's breathing had evened out.

"An attack," she murmured. "I can't tell how far off. We were fighting, and then...I don't know. Happiness, I suppose, if I had to put a word to the feeling. The most intense happiness I have ever felt."

Ruby nodded, knowing that the vision might never come to pass. Still, it was a curious vision, and they both pondered it. They walked on in silence, both gems lost in thought. Sapphire absently hummed a melody as they went. The pleasant tune was suddenly interrupted by a hiss off to their side. Both gems snapped back to attention and found themselves surrounded.

Homeworld monsters were corrupt gems, broken and reformed so many times they looked like monsters and thought like beasts. And recently Homeworld gems had taken to releasing packs of them on Earth, to attack humans or Rose's Army.

There was a half-dozen of them, all dripping fangs and glinting eyes, slowly circling closer the the gems. Ruby lowered herself into a defensive stance, eyes narrowing. "Bring it on," she muttered.

The leader of the beasts growled and leaped toward her. It was intercepted by Sapphire, who punched it in the jaw. It shook it's head and growled louder, rounding on Sapphire. The other beasts took notice and began prowling closer.

_Sapphire!_

Ruby took a running start and jumped over the head of the beast, knocking into Sapphire. She clutched her hand tightly.

"Ruby, this is the vision! It's happening now!" Sapphire said.

"I'm scared," Ruby whispered as the beasts drew closer still.

"Don't be. You're not alone," Sapphire promised.

She turned and placed a gentle kiss on Ruby's lips. This was not the time, this was not the place, but Ruby felt a wave of joy sweep over her. Heart thundering, she grabbed Sapphire and drew her closer, kissing her back. Sapphire laughed, the same joy mirrored in her face, and a light began to shine around them. "Wha--?" Ruby started to ask.

She was growing bigger, stronger. But that wasn't all: she wasn't alone. She could feel Sapphire's thoughts in her own head, her feelings, her memories. Everything that Ruby was was being added to Sapphire, mixed around, and shoved into a new mold.

Garnet rubbed her head with hands that were too large and wobbled slightly on her too-long legs. "Woah," she said. "We fused. We didn't even do the dance, and we fused."

She laughed. "I feel amazing!"

She smacked her hands together--one gemstone on each palm--and for the first time in either of their collective lives, easily summoned a weapon. Twin gauntlets. And if there was one thing both gems were good at, it was punching stuff.

Garnet swung at the first beast, laughing in surprise as she took it out with one hit. She kicked another in the face, quickly gaining control of her new body. Sapphire and Ruby worked in tandem, understanding each other perfectly.

Ruby felt Sapphire feel her love for her and felt Sapphire's love surge in return. No secrets between them, not anymore.

Garnet, laughing and crying, flopped down on the ground. All the beasts were taken care of, a feat neither of them could have completed on their own.

"I love you!" she said. "I love you, too."

Garnet sat back, basking in the soaring feeling inside of her, of the rightness of it all. She held fiercely to the joy and love and wholeness, giggles escaping her at random. All those years of loneliness and rejection, all that time of feeling detached from the world and unexplainably hollow, this-- _this_ was what she was waiting for. They were perfect.

She was perfect.

~~~

The first steaks of dawn lit the dim greyness of the world when Garnet spoke again. "We can't stay like this. I know we want to, but we can't. But now that I--we--know what this feels like, how can we go back?"

Garnet hugged herself. "Even putting all that aside, I don't even know how to turn back. We need someone. We need Rose."

~~~

Garnet slipped past the camp guards with ease and quietly entered Rose's tent. Rose Quartz was occupied with a hologram of war tactics. Garnet cleared her throat nervously. "Oh!" Rose exclaimed, closing the hologram. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize anyone was in here. Um, hello. My name is Rose Quartz."

"Garnet," Garnet said, then shook her head.

"No, I mean...Rose, we need your help. How do you defuse a gem?"

"You're a fusion? Amazing! I've never seen a fusion so...normal looking. I mean, you look like a regular gem. Three eyes, though."

Rose cut off her musings, looking embarrassed. "I'm sorry. Who are you? Which gems?"

"Ruby and Sapphire."

Rose shrieked. "Oh, darling! I'm so happy for you! I knew you would be good together, but I couldn't have guessed--"

She hugged Garnet, grinning widely. "How did you--I mean, why are you fused?"

Garnet quickly filled her in on the attack. Rose looked concerned and made a note on a piece of paper. "I'll have to enforce a stronger night patrol. Having corrupt gems so close to camp is worrying to say the least. But as to your problem...." Rose scanned a pile of books stacked up by her desk. She snatched one up, flipping through it. "My knowledge of fusions is mostly theoretical. I've fused before, of course, but they were clunky and fell apart quickly. Given how natural you look, I'd say it would be possible for you two to stay together...indefinitely."

Garnet tried to ignore the excited trill in her chest.

"But...the others wouldn't understand. Fusion is for fighting and emergencies only."

Rose must have seen the disappointment in Garnet's eyes. She cupped her friend's face. "Garnet. Are you happy?"

"Yes," Garnet admitted. "I've never been so happy."

"Then forget what anyone else says. You deserve happiness."

Still, Garnet hesitated.

"It's a big decision, and not one to be made lightly. I can give you a potion that will split the two of you apart, but only if you promise to think about it in your own heads and then talk about it, as a couple. Will you promise me that?"

Garnet nodded slowly.

"Good." Rose kissed her forehead and began listing off ingredients she would need.

~~~

Rose gave them three days off to sort things out. And they did talk about it. Really. It was just...there was a lot of kissing mixed in with the talking. Both gems agreed that they didn't feel right anymore. Ruby said she felt off balanced, like she was missing a limb. Sapphire said she felt blind, because as Garnet she could see the future clearer. Both said they were never as happy as they were when they were fused. They talked about the implications of being permanently fused, the possible dangers, and the reception they were sure to get. It took nearly the whole three days, but they finally came to a decision.

~~~

Rose called an extra training day the following week. This was hardly unusual--the battle against Homeworld was not far off anymore, and no gem needed future vision to see that.

This day's training focused on one particularly difficult technique: fusion.

Rose explained how fusion worked, why some worked better than others, the mental harmony that must be struck between the gems in the fusion. She admitted it took her many years to make a fusion work and then it still fell apart. She explained the correlation between physical appearance and the gem's compatibility.

Then she asked for volunteers.

The group of assembled gems muttered and shuffled, but none stepped forward. Rose sent a knowing smile over the crowd. "Ruby? Sapphire? Would you like to give it a try?"

The two gems gripped the other's hand tightly for a moment, but calmly walked up to the front. They had made their decision, and they were proud of it.

They faced off, dropping a curtsy. Sapphire felt the anticipation building inside her and saw it in her partner's eyes. Sapphire began to sing softly and extended her hand. Ruby caught it from behind and guided her through a quick waltz step. When they had enough momentum going, Sapphire picked up Ruby and twirled her around. Ruby's legs swung under Sapphire's arm and their foreheads knocked together gently.

The warm white glow started and finally, finally, they were together again, whole and at peace. Garnet breathed a sigh of relief.

Rose said, "Some of you might know Ruby. Some of you might know Sapphire. It is my pleasure to introduce Garnet, the third member of the Crystal Gems."


End file.
